Piped buttonholes



Oct. 27, 1970 0. 155 3,536,554

PIPED BUTTONHOLES Original Filed March 24, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 H6. /0 HQ INVENTOR.

[641L412 a Q D. WEISS PIPED BUTTONHOLI'IS Oct. 27, 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed March 24, 1965 F/GZ INVENTOR. 44 454 A4055 ,arraeM/s M. w i a m .1 w

Oct. 27, 1970 0. WEISS 3,536,554

PIPED BUTTONHOLES Original Filed March 24, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet :5

Hat/2 94 zm gi m2 7! M -xx j 14-9 4 M 22 Fania m 21 I INVENTOR.

'1 "IF/6J6 BY United States Patent PIPED BUTTONHOLES Daniel Weiss, 336 E. Market St.,

Long Beach, N.Y. 11561 Continuation of application Ser. No. 537,098, Mar. 24,

1966. This application Aug. 15, 1969, Ser. No. 851,159 Int. Cl. A41f 1/02; 153% 7/08 US. Cl. 156-93 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of making piped buttonholes wherein a front buttonhole construction and a rear buttonhole construction are formed in a fabric, the constructions are placed into alignment, an adhesive heat-disintegratable body is inserted therebetween, and heat is applied thereto so that the buttonhole constructions are retained against one another without added thickness or stiffness.

This is a continuation of my application Ser. No. 537,- 098, filed Mar. 24, 1966 now abandoned.

The present invention relates generally to piped buttonholes, and more particularly to improvements in methods and machinery related to the fabrication of piped buttonholes.

Piped buttonholes are provided in better-made garments along one of two front edges thereof which are buttoned together. Further, a finished appearance is usually provided this edge of the garment by a portion of the garment fabric being folded inwardly of the body thereof creating a fold line defining the edge and having two layers of material bounding the edge. As is generally understood, a piped buttonhole consists of two separate constructions, a front buttonhole construction which is embodied in the front garment layer and a rear buttonhole construction in the rear garment layer. The front buttonhole construction includes a pair of bound edges which define the actual buttonhole, while the rear buttonhole construction includes a comparatively large, generally rectangular opening which frames the bound edges and thereby enhances the apperance thereof. Thus, the front and rear buttonhole constructions cooperate with each other in an aligned relationship to produce what is commonly known as a piped buttonhole.

The present invention is related more particularly to improvements in method and machinery for producing the rear buttonhole construction and also to improvements in maintaining the aligned relationship of the two buttonhole constructions in the finished garment. After aligning the two buttonhole constructions, the practice heretofore has been to sew the fabric layers embodying these constructions together in a sewing operation commonly known as felling. The nature of the sewing operation is such that it must be done by hand and requires considerable skill on the part of the seamstress and thus represents a costly item in the manufacture of piped buttonholes. Intended as an improved technique for joining the two button constructions together is a technique involving the use of an adhesively coated patch for the rear buttonhole construction as disclosed in US. Pat. 2,713,686 to Oster et al. As taught in this patent, a material used in 'ice the fabrication of the rear buttonhole construction is provided with an adhesive surface which is advantageously presented to the front buttonhole construction such that these two constructions are joined to each other when the adhesive surface is subjected to heat. While the technique of this patent represents a considerable advance over felling, even the most optimum material with an adhesive backing produces an undesirable stiffness around the piped buttonhole. Additionally, the material which has the adhesive coating is chosen from commercially available materials and invariably has a different appearance than the material from which the garment is made. Although this material occupies an interposed position between the front and rear garment layers, it nevertheless is visible through the opening in the rear buttonhole construction and thus somewhat detracts from the appearance of the piped buttonhole.

Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to provide improvements in method and machinery for fabricating a rear buttonhole construtcion and for joining together the front and rear buttonhole constructions in making a piped buttonhole. Specifically, it is an object in the method of forming a piped buttonhole to include procedures for interposing an adhesive body to a completed rear buttonhole construction at the interface thereof with the front buttonhole construction whereby these two consructions are readily joined to each other by the external application of heat and wherein the resulting structure is neither stiff nor does it differ in appearance from hand sewn piped buttonholes. In accordance with machinery aspects of the present invention, it is a further object to adapt machinery now used in the fabrication of front buttonhole constructions to the further task of fabricating rear buttonhole constructions so that both these constructions are produced economically and on a uniform basis.

In accordance with method aspects of the present invention, it is contemplated that when fabric layers having a front buttonhole construction and a rear buttonhole construction therein are placed in proper superposed, aligned relationship with each other, that there then be interposed a non-woven fibrous adhesive body at the interface of these buttonhole constructions and that heat then be externally applied to the superposed layers. As a result, the bonding material of the non-woven fibrous body is elfective to adhesively join the fabric layers to each other and thereby retain the aligned positions of the buttonhole constructions. Moreover, the present invention contemplates interposing separate patches of adhesive body at each location of a front anda rear buttonhole construction and also using an elongated strip containing this adhesive body which is placed against a series of spaced rear buttonhole constructions and transferred from the strip to each rear buttonhole construction. Following this transfer, external heat is then applied lengthwise of all of the aligned buttonhole constructions and the transferred adhesive body at each location is effective to complete the joinder of the several fabric layers to each other and thus complete the fabrication of the plural piped buttonholes.

The above brief description, as well as further objects, features and advantages of the present invention, will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of a presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative embodiment in accordance with the 3 present invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1l1 inclusive, illustrate method aspects of the present invention namely:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the piped buttonhole hereof at an early stage of manufacture thereof showing the front buttonhole construction already completed and the start of the manufacture of the rear buttonhole construction;

FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating the rear buttonhole construction at a subsequent stage of manufacture, after stitching, slitting and notching thereof;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view, in section, taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2, illustrating further details of the rear buttonhole construction;

FIG. 4 is a plan view similar to FIG. 2, but illustrating the rear buttonhole construction at the next stage in the manufacture thereof, namely, after turning of the selfmaterial patch of this construction;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3, taken on line 55 of FIG. 4, illustrating the rear buttonhole construction after turning;

FIG. 6 is a plan view similar to FIG. 4, but seen from below in the direction of the arrows taken on line 6- 6 of FIG. 5, illustrating still further details of the rear buttonhole construction;

FIG. 7 is a plan view similar to FIG. 6, but showing lural rear buttonhole constructions and the manner of applying an adhesive body about each of these constructions FIG. 8 is a sectional view through the medial portion of the front and rear buttonhole constructions, and illustrates the manner in which these two constructions are aligned with each other in the formation of each individual piped buttonhole;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 8 but illustrating the completion of a piped buttonhole after the front and rear buttonhole constructions thereof are adhere to each other;

FIG. 10 is a front plan view of a completed piped buttonhole; and

FIG. 11 is similarly a plan view of a completed piped buttonhole but as seen from the reverse side.

FIGS. 12-16 are related to the machinery for producing the piped buttonhole hereof, namely:

FIG. 12 is a plan view of machinery for forming a rear buttonhole construction according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is similarly a plan view, on an enlarged scale, and illustrates the positions on the machinery occupied by the various materials used in the fabrication of the rear buttonhole construction hereof;

FIG. 14 is an elevational view, in section, taken on line 1414 of FIG. 13 at an early stage of manufacture thereof just prior to the stitching slitting and notching operations illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 15 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 14 but at a stage of manufacture of the rear buttonhole construction following the foregoing mentioned operations of stitching and slitting, but just preparatory to the notching operation; and

FIG. 16 is a view similar to FIG. 15 but illustrating the notching stroke of the notching knives.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 1-11 related to method aspects of the piped buttonhole hereof, generally designated 20, in FIGS. 9-11. As is generally understood, a piped buttonhole 20 as is usually provided in a garment having an outer fabric 22 and a suitable lining fabric 24 such as is shown in FIG. 8 is comprised of two, discrete front and rear buttonhole constructions, generally designated 26 and 28, respectively. The front buttonhole construction 26 includes so-called bound edges 30 and 32 having a buttonhole opening 34 therebetween (see in particular FIG. 10), while the rear buttonhole construction 28 (see in particular FIG. 11) as seen from the reverse side of the garment includes a somewhat larger rectangular opening 36 which presents a favorable appearance for the piped buttonhole 20 by framing the bound edges 30, 32 within the opening 36. Edges 39, 40 and 41, having a finished appearance provided by stitch-and-turn techniques, all as will be explained subsequently herein, define the rectangular opening 36.

The method aspects of the present invention are more particularly concerned with the fabrication of the rear buttonhole construction 28 and with the alignment and attachment of this construction to the front buttonhole construction 26 in the formation of each piped buttonhole 20. That is, the steps and materials used in the fabrication of the front buttonhole construction 26 are not an essential part of the present invention, and may be practiced by hand or by machinery which are already well known. One such machine for forming the front buttonhole construction 26 is described in US. Pat. 2,529,072 issued on Nov. 7, 1950, to L. R. Bradford et al. and commercial embodiments thereof are available from the Reece Corporation of Boston, Mass.

Reference is now made to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1 wherein the starting point for the method hereof is illustrated by the showing of the outer garment fabric 22 in superposed arrangement over the lining fabric 24, the fabrics 22, 24 previously being provided with a typical arrangement of spaced front buttonhole constructions. Using the front buttonhole constructions 26 as a guide, center lines 42, a base line 44 and patch outlines 46 are appropriately chalked or otherwise delineated on the fabric 22 preparatory to forming cooperating rear buttonhole constructions 28 for these front buttonhole constructions. Next, a patch 48 of the same material as the material 22, or what in the trade is commonly referred to as self-material, is placed over each patch outline 46. Following this, and as best seen in FIG. 2, parallel rows of stitching 50 and 52 are applied to fasten the patch 48 to the superposed layers of fabric 22, 24. Next, the patch and fabric layers are slitted between the stitch lines 50 and 52, as at 54, and then provided with facing V-notches 56 and 58 at opposite ends thereof. The raw edges produced by the slitting 54 and notching 56, 58 are then hidden by turning the patch 48 about the stitch lines 50, 52 to a position on the reverse side of the fabric layers 22 and 24, as illustrated in FIG. 5.

'i This well known technique of stitching and turning produces, in a well understood manner, the finished edges 3841 for the rectangular opening 36 of each rear buttonhole construction 28.

Completion of each piped buttonhole 20 then requires alignment of corresponding pairs of front and rear buttonhole constructions 26, 28, and the attachment of these two buttonhole constructions to each other. This attachment, according to known techniques, is achieved by hand sewing commonly referred to as felling and is both a time consuming and costly operation requiring considerable skill on the part of the seamstress. In accordance with the present invention, this sewing operation is entirely eliminated by providing the rear buttonhole constructions 26, at the point in manufacture thereof as exemplified by FIG. 7, with an individual adhesive body 60 adhered in an area coextensive with the self-material patch 48 to this patch and thus in an interposed position between the two buttonhole constructions 26 and 28. The adhesive body 60 may be any one of several non-woven fibrous material including carded or random-laid fibers bonded together by an appropriate adhesive material. When this material is subjected to heat, the adhesive material bonding the fibers is also effective to complete adhesive bonding to other materials in contact therewith, while the fibers of the non-woven material are effective to increase the strength and durability of the bond which is achieved. One such non-woven material which is particularly suitable for use as the interposed adhesive body 60 for each rear buttonhole construction 28 is that sold under the trademark Pellon by Pellon Corporation of New York City.

A form of Pellon non-woven material which is available from Pellon Corporation and which is used with particular advantage in accordance with the method of the present invention is that wherein the adhesive body 60 is formed continuously along the length of a paper backing strip 62. This combined strip of material 60, 62 is placed over the patches 48 of a series of spaced rear buttonhole constructions 28 with the adhesive body 60 in contact with each self-material patch 48. Following this placement, heat is then applied locally at each location of a rear buttonhole construction 28 and is effective to cause a transfer at such location of the adhesive body 60 from the backing strip 62 onto the self-material patch 48. Once achieving this, the superposed arrangement of fabrics 22, 24 is folded along an intermediate fold line which aligns the constructions 26 and 28 with each other, as is clearly shown in FIG. 8. This aligned arrangement is then rendered permanent by the application of heat applied externally of the garment fabric 22 and effective to melt the bonding material of the adhesive body 60 at the interface 64 of the self-material patch 48 of the rear buttonhole construction 28 and of a similar patch 66 of the front buttonhole construction 26. The resulting completed piped buttonhole thus does not require any sewing, such as felling, to retain the aligned positions of the respective buttonhole constructions 26, 28. Moreover, the appearance of the rear buttonhole construction 28 is enhanced by the fact that self-material 48 is presented on both sides of the stitching 50, 52 (not shown in FIG. 9) about which the self-material patch 48 is turned in forming the finished edges 38-41. Still further, it is desirable to use a thin non-woven adhesive body 60 as possible, and in such thin gauges in the order of thousands of an inch the body 60 is not readily sewn in a con- 3 ventional sewing machine. Yet, the body 60 provides a firm adhesive connection at the interface 64 while its comparatively thin gauge does not unduly produce stiffness .in the garment around each piped buttonhole 20.

Reference is now made to FIGS; 1216 wherein there is shown portions of machinery, generally designated 70, for producing a rear buttonhole construction 28 such as the construction just described. This machinery 70 will be understood to be substantially similar in construction and mode of operation to the machinery of the Bradford et al., US. Pat. 2,529,072 which, as previously indicated, is useful in producing front buttonhole constructions 26. Essentially, the machinery 70 is the machinery of the above referred to patent, but with certain modifications and changes applied thereto for the purpose of utilizing the same in the production of rear buttonhole constructions 28. To this end, the machinery 70 includes a work plate 72 presenting a comparatively large horizontal working surface and having appropriately connected, as at the left-hand edge in FIG. 12, an upstanding support 74 for a work clamp, generally designated 76. The Work clamp 76 includes a yoke 78 journaled for pivotal movement at pivot connections 80 and 82 at opposite ends of the support 74. The yoke is of an appropriate configuration to extend from the elevated height of the pivot connections 80, 82 down towards the work plate 72 terminating in free ends 84 and 86. Slidably mounted on each of the yoke free ends 84 and 86 is a U-shaped clamp bracket 88, slidable thereon and adjustable in position by tightening of conventional threadable elements 90, 92. Positioned over the work plate 72 is a work clamp plate 94 which cooperates with the movable clamp bracket 88 in securing therebetween work, such as the superposed fabric layers 22, 24 which, in practice, is fed along the feed path A therebetween. A guide 88a on the bracket 88 is aligned with a center line 42 preparatory to feed movement.

Mounted between the two arms of the yoke 78 is an elongated rod construction forming a center work clamp 96 also pivotally supported, as at 98, on the vertical support 74. The free end of the center work clamp 96 is slotted, as at 100, and extends to the center of an aperture 102 in the work clamp plate '94. As best shown in FIG. 14, located centrally in the aperture 102 is a sewing fixture 104 having two marginal needle slots 106 and 108 in the leading edge thereof and a central slit-cutter notch 110. Positioned rearwardly of the needle slots 106, 108 along the feed path A are the usual sewing mechanisms of a sewing machine including feed dogs which, during sewing operation of the sewing mechanisms, operate in a well understood manner to pull the work 22, 24 over the sewing fixture 104 and beneath the slotted end of the center work clamp 96. The vertically reciprocating sewing needles 112 and 114 operate on opposite sides of the center work clamp 96 and pass through the work to be sewn into the clearance provided by the notches 106, 108. Operating beneath the work 22, 24 but also in a vertical plane relative thereto, is the slit cutter 116 having a cutting edge along the upper end thereof and actuated by appropriate mechanisms, through a cutting stroke from beneath the work plate 72 into the slit cutter notch 110, through all of the layers of the work, and into the slot 100 of the center work clamp 96.

After sewing and slitting of the work 22, 24, a pair of spaced rods 118 mounting notching knives 120 on the ends thereof are actuated through a notching stroke at locations coinciding with the start and end of the slit produced by the slit cutter 116. These locations fall just beyond and on opposite sides of the free end of the center work clamp 96. Unlike the notching knives used in the fabrication of the front buttonhole constructions 26, the knives 120 during the return stroke thereof are not effective in turning the self-material patch 48. This turning operation is performed by hand.

The machinery 70 is just described thus utilizes many of the mechanisms useful in the production of front buttonhole constructions 26 and, with the additions and modifications thereto as described and illustrated in conjunction with FIGS. 12-16, such machinery also performs the sewing, slitting and notching operations required in the production of rear buttonhole constructions 28. Following these operations and also the hand turning of the self-material patches 48, the rear buttonhole constructions 28 are each in a condition to receive an adhesive body 60 which, as already expalined, enables the retention of the aligned positions of the buttonhole constructions 26 and 28 with each other without a tedious felling or hand sewing operation.

A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit and scope of the invention herein.

I claim:

1. In a method of forming piped buttonholes in a fabric garment, including the steps of z (a) forming a front buttonhole construction in one portion of said fabric,

(b) forming a rear buttonhole construction in another oprtion of said fabric in alignment with said front buttonhole construction, and

(c) arranging said buttonhole constructions in superposed relationship, the improvement comprising the steps of:

(d) interposing a thin, limp fusible body fabricated of non-woven fibers and adhesive between said buttonhole constructions, said body having the characteristic of losing its bodily integrity upon the application of heat, then (e) applying heat to said superposed constructions from a point external thereto to cause said body to fuse the constructions to one another with essentially no added stiffness and with essentially no added thickness.

2. A method of forming piped buttonholes as defined in claim 1 wherein said fabric has plural spaced front and rear buttonhole constructions forming plural aligned sets of front and rear buttonhole constructions therein and said fusible body is interposed between each said aligned set of such buttonhole constructions.

3. A method of forming piped buttonholes as defined in claim 2 wherein said fusible body in the form of an individual patch is used at each set of aligned buttonhole constructions.

4. A method of forming piped buttonholes as defined in claim 2 wherein said fusible body is formed as a continuous web on a backing strip and said step of interposing the same between the buttonhole constructions more particularly includes placing said backing strip over the buttonhole constructions of one fabric portion with said continuous web thereon in contact with such buttonhole constructions and transferring portions of said con tinuous web from said backing strip to said buttonhole constructions, whereby the subsequent application of heat to said transferred web portions is effective to adhere said constructions to each other at the interface thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,713,686 7/1955 0ster et a1. 2,922,167 1/1960 Berlin.

FOREIGN PATENTS 754,571 8/1956 Great Britain.

JOHN T. GOOLKASIAN, Primary Examiner G. W. MOXON, II, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

